Ronald Acuña Jr. Hasn’t Skipped A Beat, Back To MVP Form

It’s easy to run out of words when talking about Ronald Acuña Jr. The former NL Rookie of the Year, NL MVP, and founding member of the 40/70 club has spent the first eight seasons of his career redefining what’s possible on a baseball field. When he’s at his best, he’s truly one of the best in the game today.

After suffering a torn ACL for the second time in the last four years last season, it was fair to wonder what version of the superstar we would see upon his return.

Back in 2022, he had what some considered a “down year,” slashing .266/.351/.413 with a .764 OPS and 115 wRC+ over 119 games. While these stats would be career bests for many major leaguers, for Acuña it didn’t match the MVP-caliber bar he’d set for himself.

This time around, both the Atlanta Braves and Acuña took a cautious approach to his rehab. Despite Atlanta’s rough start to the 2025 season, there was no rushing him back. And now, that patience looks like a stroke of genius, as Acuña Jr. has looked better than ever.

Stats were taken prior to play on June 23.

Blistering Out of the Gate

LMAO RONALD ACUÑA IS INSANE!

HE’S HITTING .667 (!!!!) WITH A 1.884 OPS IN HIS LAST 7 GAMES WHAT THE HELL 🤯🤯🤯🤯pic.twitter.com/VVGfcNDAqm

— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) June 18, 2025

Through his first 27 games in 2025, Acuña is slashing an absurd .396/.504/.698 for a 1.202 OPS and a monstrous 230 wRC+.

Since making his season debut on May 23, he ranks first in MLB in batting average, on-base percentage, and wOBA among all batters with at least 100 plate appearances. He ranks second in wRC+ and third in slugging percentage over that stretch as well.

To say he’s picked up right where he left off would be an understatement. He might be even better.

Pace (Games)	PA	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	BB	K
113	491	117	156	35	65	9	91	109
162	704	168	224	50	93	12	131	156

Year	PA	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	BB	K
2023	734	149	217	41	106	73	80	84

Using his 113-game pace this season, Acuña would have still ranked fourth in walks, seventh in runs, 11th in home runs, and 32nd in hits last season. Stretch that to a full 162-game pace, and he’s putting up numbers that would’ve gone toe-to-toe with Shohei Ohtani’s MVP campaign.

He’s already accumulated 2.1 fWAR, ranking second in MLB since his return and 14th on the year as a whole among outfielders, despite playing roughly 40 fewer games than virtually everyone ahead of him.

On his 113-game pace, that would equal out to 9.0 fWAR, which would’ve placed him fourth in MLB and second among outfielders last season.

So, how is he doing it?

For starters, he’s made some notable adjustments to his batted-ball profile from the last time he stepped foot on a big-league field. Acuña has cut his ground-ball rate by nearly seven points (45.1%) and increased his fly-ball rate by eight points (29.6%), according to Baseball Savant.

If this were the 1960s, this might raise eyebrows. But in 2025, it’s how you dominate.

With a 17.9% walk rate coupled with both an 18.3% barrel rate and whopping 57.7% hard-hit rate, Acuña is not only seeing the ball well but making pitchers pay when they challenge him in the zone.

Could He Win the MVP?

It may sound crazy, but Acuña can absolutely find himself in the NL MVP conversation at the end of the season, even after missing the first 49 games. Is it likely? Maybe not. But possible? Without question.

We have seen it before. George Brett won the MVP in 1980 despite playing just 117 games, and Mike Schmidt did it the following year in 1981 in just 102 games. Others have contended with similarly limited seasons as well. It’s not unprecedented.

With the kind of stats that Acuña is putting up, he’s going to force himself into the conversation no matter how many games he ends up playing. Considering the National League is loaded with stars like Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Kyle Tucker, Corbin Carroll, and the emergence of Pete Crow-Armstrong, even being in the mix would be a massive achievement.

But if there’s one thing we’ve learned about Acuña, it’s that he’s built for this. Records, expectations, pressure, he’s shown that he doesn’t want to just meet the standard, he wants to be the standard.

If this hot start is any indication in what’s to come in 2025, we’re in for one incredible ride the rest of the season.